Justice Minister takes over Identity Malta from Home Affairs

Identity Malta has been taken out of the Home Affairs Ministry’s portfolio and handed over to the Justice Ministry.

The decision was taken by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and approved by President of the Republic. This essentially means that Muscat wants Justice Minister Owen Bonnici to take care of the government agency that deals with national identity management.

Identity Malta includes citizenship matters and the central visa unit. In a statement, the government said the move was part of the “re-engineering” of the department.

Over the course of two years, Identity Malta presided over a sea change in heads of department who were either asked to be transferred or else were detailed to other roles.

Identity Malta’s establishment was one of Labour’s first legislative acts, taking under its wing the Individual Investor Programme, the land and public registries, the passport and civil registration offices, the identity management office, and the citizenship and expatriate affairs office.

Lately it was the subject of a police investigation into allegations that thousands of visas and residence permits were issued fraudulently from the agency. Employees were questioned by the police after a raid was conducted at Identity Malta offices at the Evans Building.

The government claims the racket identified by police at Identity Malta – discovered following police investigations to accountant Joe Sammut was charged with registering hundreds of false trading companies in order to obtain residency permits for Libyan nationals – has been ongoing since 2011.

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said that Muscat’s credibility was “in free-fall” after the Prime Minister “failed in the leadership of Identity Malta which he himself set up”.

The PN said Identity Malta was mired in corruption.

“In view of this failure, Muscat chose to humiliate Carmelo Abela by passing on the agency to another minister. The problem of corruption within Identity Malta is not the fault of one minister or another, but the result of the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint individuals close to him to head the agency.”

The PN reiterated that Identity Malta was set up by Muscat with individuals personally chosen by the Prime Minister.

“Muscat’s government is in a corruption crisis. What Muscat announced this evening is just another act in the drama he is known for.”